Comments on: Where Do Atheists Come From?

By: Nuke

Nuke — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:43:58 +0000

People can believe anything they want. I can believe that Penelope Cruz is heartbroken I haven’t called her. What you really need to ask is it true? As scholars more worldly then me have stated for centuries, we do not have to prove that God does not exist, (can’t prove a negative). What we need to do is have someone take the time to prove God does exist. That is hypothesis that needs to be tested. When there is proof of God’s existance (good luck finding any) then the dialogue can begin. But so what, any social contract we have with others in our own state or internationally have developed and expanded completely in the temporal, phenomenal world and go well beyond what even the old bronze age scriptures had written down. That’s so 2 millenium ago!

By: Imagin[ace]tion

Imagin[ace]tion — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:50:54 +0000

@Neil – Thats common. Phrases such as: “Oh my god! “or “god damn it!” or simply when in a defeated state for argument sakes: “::sigh:: god…you’re such an idiot” – are all very common phrases that people have adapted into their speech. It doesn’t indicate their religious preference. It is simply a product of socialization and peer interaction which produces such exclamations. Yet, if you look at Muslim raised individuals, I’m sure you will not find many people who say “oh my god!” when frustrated or alarmed. Society shaped your behavior. USA is known for it’s high-level of Christians, therefore, using “god” as a remark to show your uttmost alarm, anger, etc, then ‘god’ (being infinite, supposably), seems to be a fitting use of application. I’m an athiest and I also say ‘oh my god’. Guilty

By: Neil

Neil — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:36:56 +0000

I have an atheist acquaintance who completely rejects any idea of Deity, but when things go pear-shaped, the first words out of her mouth are ‘Oh my God!’.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:51:13 +0000

I may be agnostic about whether someone exists until I meet them. Then I become sure. That is what being a follower of Jesus is about – I’ve experienced Jesus, seen his power at work, seen miracles – so I would be denying good evidence if I were to ignore it. Can I prove it? Only to myself. But the evidence puts it well beyond reasonable doubt for me.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:25:03 +0000

I don’t get the people who say things like “I don’t like the term ‘atheist’ because it implies certainty.” If you feel that way, then I don’t think that words means what you think it means. Atheism is the lack of belief in gods (any of them) (that’s it). It doesn’t imply, nor state, certainty of any kind it is only in regards to beliefs. So you need to correct your definition of the word.
To take that one step further, I can honestly say, “There are no gods.” In the same way I say “there are no leprechauns/fairies/psychics/celestial teapots/etc.” There is the same amount of evidence for all of those…none. I am also fully capable of changing my mind if proper evidence is presented.
The I-don’t-want-to-be-associated-with-the-word-atheist attitude is cowardly & as defined, incorrect

By: pam

pam — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:47:00 +0000

Labels, labels……too many labels. IMO, We should just do away entirely with the term agnostic. These people are just “on the fence”. Years ago someone once said to me, “Be something, don’t be Agnostic. Pick a side where your beliefs fall and go there.” Well the wind (and there was barely a breeze) blew me over to the Atheists. I guess it’s something I’ve always known but just couldn’t commit to for social or family reasons. I wonder if this is true for other Agnostics. I suspect so.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:58:57 +0000

By atheism I mean, “the doctrine or belief that there is no God”, and by agnosticism I mean “the disbelief in any claims of ultimate knowledge”(both from Princeton). I very strongly doubt the existence of the spaghetti monster, and for all practical purposes I behave as if I believe it doesn’t exist, of course. This is of more than a philosophical stance; humans have a tendency, or an emotional need for certainty, and I think our certainty is often premature. Once we have acquired a belief, we tend to ignore or distort data that don’t fit that belief, and over- emphasize data that do fit our belief. “My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone, but agnosticism about everything. ” Robert Anton Wilson

By: David

David — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:51:21 +0000

Replace “god” by “Father Christmas” I’m sure the majority reading this believed in Father Christmas at one time. Can anyone prove that Father Christmas does or does not exist?

By: Julius

Julius — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:39:35 +0000

I’m with Torgwen (#5) on this one. Growing up, I also never “got” what others were feeling and telling me to feel. When people ask why I don’t believe in any higher powers, I explain to them that I was born that way, as if the religion center in my brain is defaulted to its “off” position. As a rational person, I can analyze things and say there are probably no gods, but after 32 years of trusting my mind and my “gut”, it would take extraordinary evidence to change how I feel, and how I am hard- wired.

And numbers are subjective, questions are subjective. Certainly definitions of “atheism” and “agnosticism” are personally subjective. Numbers are fun, but they’re not the whole story.

By: duh

duh — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:06:42 +0000

Slugsie, you really need to re-read the syntax and context of the above statistics. 57% identify as either atheist or agnostic. 49% are self-professed atheists. This leaves us with the obvious conclusion that 8% of the sample is agnostic. 43% are neither.

C’mon guys. Let’s do the math right, and leave insults about cognitive dissonance (or insults involving any other subject) to the young and the immature.